I'll show you my shower! [Archive]

olossgirl

10-09-2006, 11:25 PM

Katja - no grab bars - my hubby is a para and he always said the bars were useless to him, we had them where we lived previously and he wanted to remove them due to their placement he would bang up his elbow frequently on them

thanks for the compliments, I am proud that we are finally showering in there. I selected all my tile at different tile stores - I shopped high quality at bargain prices in a few cases buying reminents, I had a vision in my head that my husband just could not picture his idea of redoing our bathroom accessible was very simple and "institutional" looking - my tile guy was really awesome we have since had him tile the rest of our home. we were very unlucky with our plumbing people ... we had problems to say the least.

before picture ... the door to the right lead to the toilet and bathtub left door is her walk in closet . ... toilet was moved where 2nd sink was

Curt Leatherbee

10-09-2006, 11:36 PM

Looks good, I did a conversion job a few years back, its a lot of work and expensive thats for sure. might want to think about a padded shower bench though, less like to get pressure sores.

Kendell

10-09-2006, 11:44 PM

Absolutely beautiful! Congratulations!

I hope you don't mind me asking this. If it's too personal, I apologize and please ignore. I'm wondering about how much a bathroom conversion like yours cost to do?

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! :D

olossgirl

10-10-2006, 10:24 AM

Kendell ... All together about 8000 and I consider that cheap since we got good bargains on tile, if any of you remodel keep in mind the net offers really good deals, I went to several showrooms and after picking what I liked looked it up on the net and compared prices ... some of my valves that were needed for my vertical spa had a 300%+++ markup! same with my sink, all my trim faucets etc. I also bought my toilet on clearance it had been a special order floor display which I paid 100$ for and is worth 10x that price ... We did reconfigure our restroom which was no small task our slab was cut into and jackhammered .. boy was I worried to see 3 big holes several feet deep in my bathroom a grown man stood in the hole and fitted pipes his waist was at floor level the toilet was moved several feet all the plumbing was brought to anothr wall sounds simple .. at one time I remember thinking maybe we could do it ourself!! lol glad I didn't try. we started buying little by little - I had a vision of what it would look like finished so for about 1 year I have had the window treatments for the bathroom, we had a toilet in the garage for about 6 months, some tile in my closet for 4 months, my light fixture, sink, faucet, vanity have been in the bathroom corner not yet installed! one day it will be done .. for now I am just happy we can shower in that bathroom!
Curt - my husband has gone through several shower chairs in 11 years but this is the one he prefers, he has used this particular model for the last 5-6 years

Kendell

10-10-2006, 10:44 AM

Wow! Not only am I impressed with your vision and your shopping skills, I'm thinking if we can ever afford to do a bathroom remodel, I'd want to hire you!

Seriously!:applaud:

SCI-Nurse

10-10-2006, 02:50 PM

Here is the bathroom vanity area from the Extreme Makeover Home Edition (Hawkins family, 10/8/06). I could not find a good picture of the roll-in shower. This bathroom is bigger than most people's master bedroom!

(KLD)

Chris Chappell

10-10-2006, 03:47 PM

...show you my shower And I'll show you my rubber ducky..:D (Sorry, couldn't resist).

But seriously. Beautiful job on the bathroom remodel. Congratulations Olossogirl :applaud:

Tiger Racing

10-10-2006, 04:30 PM

I know this is supposed to be about useability and not as much about looks but I LOVE the tile and designs.

But of course it's about how things look, too. I don't know about you, but I spend a fair amount of time in my bathroom and it's also one of the rooms in your home that visitors are likely to see. If you're going to go to the trouble of totally redoing a bathroom, then how it looks is likely to be as big a concern as how it works.

Which leads me to my question. Has anyone seen a bath or shower bench or chair that doesn't look like it would fit in at a veterans' hospital? For instance, the one pictured in that beautifully tiled bathroom. It's less hideous than most, but it hardly blends in with that room. I haven't found anything for sale that looks any better than that, but I was wondering if anyone had seen something nicer on a design show or something.

C.

olossgirl

10-10-2006, 04:51 PM

those sinks in the picture are really awesome .. it's funny because I purchased the same exact sink ! it's a Kohler DemiLav Wading Pool lavatory model K-2833 - I chose a different faucet however.

Tiger - I know what you mean about the showerchair, originally we wanted to incorporate some sort of tiled bench just for the look but it would not have been functional/comfortable for my husband so we kept the bench I was hoping to find something not as much of an eyesore for his next showerchair but it does not seem like there is much choice! please let me know if you find a "fashionable" chair! lol

rollin64

10-10-2006, 04:57 PM

Which leads me to my question. Has anyone seen a bath or shower bench or chair that doesn't look like it would fit in at a veterans' hospital?

it would even help if they'd make em in a different color than white or bone.

Tom Pierce

10-10-2006, 07:11 PM

Great job!! I'm also in the process of constructing my bathroom as an "add-on" room to my home. Right now it's about 90% complete. Coincidently, we installed the exact same floor tile as you!!

Tom

Andy

10-10-2006, 07:51 PM

Nice tile job! And I think I'm in love, a girl that's into construction :p . I have the same bench also, I think it is the best out there, or at least not a rickety POS like everything else. Mine just sits in the tub though, no spiffy digs like you guys have.

Lois

10-10-2006, 08:08 PM

What a beautiful job you did on your shower! Thanks for sharing the pictures and also the one from Extreme Makeover ~ I'm saving them all in a folder of ideas if and when I get an accessible bathroom...

Tiger Racing

10-10-2006, 08:38 PM

it would even help if they'd make em in a different color than white or bone.

Indeed.

C.

SCI-Nurse

10-10-2006, 09:35 PM

One of the few that I have seen in other colors. We have one (from Rolli-Moden, which is going out of business in the USA :( ):

http://www.rolli-moden.com/images/product/chameleon.jpg

(KLD)

CapnGimp

10-11-2006, 02:25 AM

Tiger Racing

10-11-2006, 07:08 AM

I'm not putting up handrails either

When starting from scratch, I try to think of universal accessibility and not just what works for me. That takes some doing as I prefer to have the least amount of adaptation possible and quite often forget that my particular disability and abilities are not the end of the story. I like the idea that when I sell my home, the new buyers will find things about it that work for them that they maybe weren't expecting. It's also quite likely that as I get older, what I need to make my life easier will change, so why not work some things in now while I'm doing the work anyway. (My husband and I just bought a house and are adding a master suite, a new garage and redoing the kitchen.)

I had my floor lower than the rooms floor. Mine here at this house is a raised floor and I get water in the room all the time. The floor is sloped all around toward the drain, which will be behind me as I sit

That reminds me of another question I had. For those who use a bench in their bathtub, how do you keep the floor from getting wet? Any options other than being smothered by a shower curtain?

The builder put my cubby hole at the back, oops

Now that sux. Was it their screw up or a detail you didn't think of until after the fact?

I made my bench years ago. I will be making another when I get moved, with an added back that the present one lacks. I just have my back against the wall now.

Speaking of benches in different colours... and grab bars and shower curtains:

http://www.grabbarspecialists.com/

C.

Foolish Old

10-11-2006, 11:11 AM

I had my floor lower than the rooms floor.

What is the offset of the shower rough (sub) floor from the bathroom finish floor? Asked another way, how much must I remove from the shower floor joists to allow for tile, thinset, and sloped mortar bed to drain top?

Andy

10-11-2006, 01:48 PM

That reminds me of another question I had. For those who use a bench in their bathtub, how do you keep the floor from getting wet? Any options other than being smothered by a shower curtain?

C.

I guess the key is not to have too long of a curtain so it is unwieldy, and keep it in the tub. No wet floor by me, just have the curtain rest on the top of the bench where it crosses out of the tub and the rest of the curtain hanging in the tub.

ChopperChick

10-11-2006, 02:11 PM

Beautiful!! I love the tile on the floor! Hope this is not considered hijacking, but I never got a chance to show ours!

rollin64

10-11-2006, 02:29 PM

Beautiful shower, you guys have great taste! Here's a bad pic of mine...
I'm not putting up handrails either, gotta return them. I had my floor lower than the rooms floor. Mine here at this house is a raised floor and I get water in the room all the time. The floor is sloped all around toward the drain, which will be behind me as I sit, so my feet are high and 'dry'. I hate sitting in a pool of shower water, lol.
The builder put my cubby hole at the back, oops, so I'll probably attach a shelf to the front wall later on.
I made my bench years ago. I will be making another when I get moved, with an added back that the present one lacks. I just have my back against the wall now.

nice capn.....

they need to sponge over that tile with clear white vinegar to get that grout film off. ;) that lil bit of acid in the vinegar will eat it right off.

might not better tell em though. tile setters don't like to be told how to do their work, hehe. everybody has different theories and ways of doin things. like i said before, i done tile, stone, stucco for about 15 years. i love seein good tile work done. even when i go into a bathroom at restaraunts i just have a habit of thoroughly checkin out the tile when doin my duties, lol. i used to complain bout havin to work all the time, specially saturdays. god i miss it now though. thats one of the main things i hate about this damn sci is not bein able to do the work that i actually loved an was good at. :mad:

Foolish Old

10-11-2006, 02:50 PM

nice capn.....

they need to sponge over that tile with clear white vinegar to get that grout film off. ;) that lil bit of acid in the vinegar will eat it right off.

might not better tell em though. tile setters don't like to be told how to do their work, hehe. everybody has different theories and ways of doin things. like i said before, i done tile, stone, stucco for about 15 years. i love seein good tile work done. even when i go into a bathroom at restaraunts i just have a habit of thoroughly checkin out the tile when doin my duties, lol. i used to complain bout havin to work all the time, specially saturdays. god i miss it now though. thats one of the main things i hate about this damn sci is not bein able to do the work that i actually loved an was good at. :mad:

Rollin64,

Would you please comment on my question regarding how much drop is required between the finished floor of the bathroom and the sub-floor of the shower to allow for setting the drain at a height that keeps water restricted to the shower?

The house is up on stilts, so all plumbing drops can be achieved under the house. I have two layers of plywood (3/4' topped with 5/8") for the sub-floor. I plan to remove these and notch the 2'X10" (16' centers) joists to get the required offset for the preslope mortar bed. I'll sister the joists (2'X6" sisters?) to make up for the weakened joists.

Have you ever used the Kerdi products?http://www.schluter.com/english/products/2002/sectionh/overview-h/section-h.html

Katja

10-11-2006, 06:14 PM

Wow, I'm so impressed with everyone's showers! We just finished a bathroom as well, I'll try to get some pictures.

When starting from scratch, I try to think of universal accessibility and not just what works for me. That takes some doing as I prefer to have the least amount of adaptation possible and quite often forget that my particular disability and abilities are not the end of the story. I like the idea that when I sell my home, the new buyers will find things about it that work for them that they maybe weren't expecting. It's also quite likely that as I get older, what I need to make my life easier will change, so why not work some things in now while I'm doing the work anyway.

This is good advice - my 95 year old mother-in-law, who has had 3 hip fractures and an elbow fracture in the last year, is coming for Thanksgiving, and it was very interesting to do a needs evaluation with her caregiver to make sure she will be able to access the bedroom, bathroom, shower, etc as her needs are very different from mine. I'm actually having to buy some stuff (toilet safety frame), and some stuff is just going to be inconvenient for her as my strong side is my left, so I tend to have grab bars or whatever on the left, and it's the opposite for her.

Have you ever used the Kerdi products?http://www.schluter.com/english/prod...section-h.html

We used the Kerdi shower tray and membrane in our current shower - it was fiddly to install, but I don't think it was more fiddly than a mud shower. There's a lot of discussion about this in the John Bridge tile forums (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1).

Le Type Français

10-11-2006, 11:42 PM

I posted a while back a thread entitled "show me your bathroom" ... again thanks to all that posted. now here is finally a picture of my roll in shower - the bathroom is tiled but we still need to have electrical work done and then finish the walls. our shower is a 5'x5'

Beautiful. I love it. :)

zillazangel

10-11-2006, 11:46 PM

Yours is so similar to ours!!

http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=16411708

rollin64

10-12-2006, 12:52 PM

Rollin64,

Would you please comment on my question regarding how much drop is required between the finished floor of the bathroom and the sub-floor of the shower to allow for setting the drain at a height that keeps water restricted to the shower?

The house is up on stilts, so all plumbing drops can be achieved under the house. I have two layers of plywood (3/4' topped with 5/8") for the sub-floor. I plan to remove these and notch the 2'X10" (16' centers) joists to get the required offset for the preslope mortar bed. I'll sister the joists (2'X6" sisters?) to make up for the weakened joists.

Have you ever used the Kerdi products?http://www.schluter.com/english/products/2002/sectionh/overview-h/section-h.html

can i pm you later? so as not to mess up the thread. :D

Foolish Old

10-12-2006, 01:08 PM

can i pm you later? so as not to mess up the thread. :D

sure. thanks.

rollin64

10-14-2006, 07:40 PM

sure. thanks.

check your pm's. ;)

Foolish Old

01-16-2007, 12:46 PM

Wow, I'm so impressed with everyone's showers! We just finished a bathroom as well, I'll try to get some pictures.

We used the Kerdi shower tray and membrane in our current shower - it was fiddly to install, but I don't think it was more fiddly than a mud shower. There's a lot of discussion about this in the John Bridge tile forums (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1).

Katja,

In reviewing this thread I noticed that I had not thanked you for your reply to my Kerdi inquiry. Please excuse my omission - and THANK YOU! I would love to see your photos.

I first heard of Kerdi on the John Bridges site. Did y'all do your own work?